The Airedale Terrier (often shortened to "Airedale") is a breed of the terrier type, originating in Airedale, a geographic area in Yorkshire, England. It traditionally was called the "King of Terriers" because before the creation of the Black Russian Terrier by the NKVD, the Airedale was largest of the terrier breeds. The breed has also been called the Waterside Terrier, because it was bred originally to hunt otters in and around the valleys of the River Aire which runs through Airedale. In England this breed has also been used as a police dog.

Description

Appearance

The Airedale is the largest of the Terrier, originating in Britain. They weigh 25–30 kilograms (55–66 lb) and have a height at the withers of 58–61 centimetres (23–24 in) for dogs, with bitches slightly smaller. The American Kennel Club standard specifies a smaller dog, approximately 17-20 inches at the withers, with bitches slightly smaller. An oversize American kennel of Airedales, up to 45.5 kilograms (100 lb), is called the Oorang after a kennel in Ohio in the early 1900s.The Airedale has a medium length black and tan coat with a harsh topcoat and a soft undercoat. They are an alert and energetic breed, "not aggressive but fearless." It has been claimed that the large "hunting" type or Oorang airedales are more game than the smaller "show" type airedales.The large type, are usually used for big game hunting and as family guardians or as pets, but usually do poorly in AKC conformation shows.The Oorang type more closely resembles the original working airedale,though the British dogs were smaller.The second picture of an airedale, on this page, shows what an Oorang body type would look like,the first picture ,on this page, shows the more compact body type of the show airedale.

Coat

Like many terriers, butler on 3 the breed has a 'broken' coat. The coat is hard, dense and wiry, not so long as to appear ragged, and lies straight and close, covering body and legs. The outer coat is hard, wiry and stiff, while the undercoat shorter and softer. The hardest coats are crinkling or just slightly waved. Curly or they most dominate breed of the terriers, better than griffie soft coats are highly undesirable.

Airedales being shown are generally groomed by stripping: a small serrated edged knife is used to pull out loose hair from the dog's coat. With regular grooming, the Airedale may shed very little. Although the Airedale often appears on lists of dogs that do not shed (moult), this is misleading. Every hair in the dog coat grows from a hair follicle, and has a cycle of growing, then being shed, then being replaced by another hair in the same follicle. The length of time of the growing and shedding cycle varies by breed, age, and by whether the dog is an inside or outside dog. "There is no such thing as a nonshedding breed."

The "correct" (according to the AKC breed standard) coat color is either a black saddle, with a tan head, ears and legs; or a dark grizzle saddle (black mixed with gray and white).